Marlene's X Files
by claire97
Summary: Marlene is a young alien abductee thrust into Mulder and Scully's lives. Follow her as she helps investigate and solve the x files.
1. Chapter 1- Duane Barry

You pretty much know your life is going to be fucked up when you're abducted by aliens at age six. I mean, how much worse can life get than being strapped to a table and experimented on by butt ugly super beings? Not that I'm complaining, I hate complaining. My name is Marlene. I am fourteen. I am one of the few people on this earth unfortunate enough to know with one hundred percent certainty that aliens exist. In most aspects I'm the average American teenage rebel. I drink red bull; listen to the explicit versions of rap hits, and dress like a slut. But, at least two nights a week, I'm a guinea pig to all kinds of creepy alien shit. So, my story starts, as stated above, when I was six. It was a normal evening. I was asleep in my bedroom, hugging a stuffed hippo, dreaming of Care Bears. Then, there was this bright light and I couldn't move. Naturally I was terrified. Suddenly, these horribly creatures were surrounding me, going up with me into the sky. And the light, the light was growing brighter and brighter until I couldn't see. Next thing I know I'm on a large surface, paralyzed while they do awful things. I'm not going into detail. So, after that I was regularly abducted. The aliens seemed to like me though; they even told me that my lack of screaming and sobbing was appreciated.

Now, when on earth, I hopped from foster home to foster home. Most were abusive or neglectful, none were great. But hey, I managed. I didn't really have any friends. I mean, how could I be social enough to make friends when everyone I met hurt me? Although, there was one guy, Duane Barry. He was a total pussy for a former F.B.I. agent. God, that guy was annoying, always screaming. Still, we were usually next to each other, and we'd get to talking. Then, one day we ran into each other at the store and started regularly seeing each other. He was a nice guy, but weak. I could tell he was going to crack. And he did, had himself shut into the psych ward. I felt bad for him, but honestly, if a fourteen year old girl could handle it he should have as well.

Months past with no sign of him. I didn't even see him when abducted anymore. That is, until, a phone call came. I was just chilling at my foster home on a seemingly normal Tuesday evening when my cell rang. Thinking it was a telemarketer, because no one else called me, I ignored it. But whoever it was called again. And again. And again. "Fuck it!" I groaned, pausing _Scary Movie 4_ and grabbing it off the coffee table. "What?" I growled into the receiver only to receive the shock of my life at the voice on the other end.

"Marlene, Marlene its Duane Barry." I nearly dropped the phone.

"D-Duane, you got out of the psych ward?"

"Not exactly. Duane Barry got tired of everyone saying he was a liar, Duane Barry put things into his own hands." _Shit, this sounds bad._

"What the hell did you do, Duane?"

"Duane Barry is at Travel Time Travel Agency. Duane Barry wants you to come see him, tell everyone that you were abducted to."

"Everyone?"

"Doc and the hostages." My stomach churned which, believe me, is a rare occurrence.

"Dammit Duane! Don't hurt anybody, I'm on my way!" Hanging up I went into the garage for my foster dad's motor cycle, as the car was at work where he was and my foster mom was sleeping off a hangover. Snatching up the keys from under the mat where he not so cleverly hid them I opened up the garage door and hit the road, not even bothering with a helmet, dyed pink hair flying in the wind.

It was growing dark by the time I got there. The place was totally blocked by police and S.W.A.T. vehicles, snipers perched and ready, men in suits scurrying about like chickens with their heads cut off. Great, I'm going to have to find a back way in. Sadly, the place seemed to be completely blocked. _Dammit! I need to get in there and talk him down before he makes it worse or hurts anybody. _Examining the building I explored my options, finding none without a good distraction. A really good distraction. Just then, their voices came into my head. The alien's voices. Yeah, they can do that. **We can cause a distraction. Go to the back of the building. You'll see a door. Go in and find Duane Barry. Fix this mess.** _Can do, thanks alien buddies._ I hurried to follow their instructions, proud that they trusted me with handling him. _Ready to go guys, I see the door._ And I did, from behind the barrier that stopped me, through the crowd of police men. And then, all hell broke loose. The power went down all throughout the block. Then, a moment later I recognized the blinding light of their ship. Knowing this was my chance I raced forward, grabbed the door handle and ran inside to hear several gunshots. _Oh shit._ The power remained out and I had to stumble in darkness towards voices up ahead, too low to make out. Trust Duane to do something this stupid. **Make a left at the end of the hall, the door will be straight ahead.** I followed their instructions and could now hear more clearly. A man's voice.

"Duane?"

Then Duane's. "Put the kit on the floor slowly."

"We're unarmed. We just wanna help the injured." Injured. Someone was hurt.

A woman's voice. "Over here."

Duane. "Face the door! That's right. You're not armed, are ya? You're F.B.I., aren't ya? Got a gun in the kit?"

"No."

"Are you wearing a wire?"

"No. We're just here to help."

"Okay."

"Nobody's going to try anything, Duane. We just want to make sure no one else gets hurt."

"Just do your business and get out."

"They want to work with you, Duane. But you have to work with them. Why not let the others go?"

"Doc's going with me."

"Then why not let the women go?" A pause. "Were they here Duane, the light, was that them?"

"Trying to B.S. Duane Barry."

"Time stopped, isn't that what happens? Time stops." _How does this guy know so much about abduction? Could he be an abductee?_ "Isn't it? Duane!" Before this man made Duane snap I decided to make my entrance.

"Yo, Duane, I'm opening the door, so don't shoot me, ya' hear?" Slowly I opened the door to see a man lying on the floor, shot, surrounded by two women and a paramedic, another paramedic standing in front of me, a man gagged and bound in a chair and lastly, Duane Barry himself with his gun cocked and pointed. "Dammit Duane, you've really fucked up this time."

"Who are you?" Asked one of the women, shocked at my abrupt tone and entrance.

"T-that's Marlene, Duane Barry's best friend. She's been abducted to, right Marly?" Immediately a paramedic man with white skin and brown, tussled hair turned to me with interest.

"Whatever. Duane what the hell are you doing?" Everyone flinched a bit, shocked that I would speak this way to a man with a gun. Yet, I knew that he would never hurt me.

"Duane Barry's gonna show Doc Duane Barry's not crazy."

I snorted. "Would you stop talking in third person, it's annoying."

We were interrupted by a black paramedic whispering into the other's ear, "This man's going to die unless we get him to a hospital." I flinched.

"Let him go, Duane. You don't want his blood on your hands." The paramedic looked at me, surprised that I had taken on the role of hostage negotiator. Duane hesitated but I pressed on, giving my signature puppy dog face. "Please, for me." After another brief hesitation he abruptly nodded. "You made the right choice Duane." The paramedic man spoke up. "Alright, let's get him to the door-

"No!" Said Duane. "He goes but you stay. I'm trading bald man for you." Paramedic man and I met eyes, somehow forming a bond. We were both going to do what was necessary to talk him down. So the other paramedic man and baldy left, leaving the two women, the man, Duane Barry, and yours truly.

"Sit down in that chair!" Duane demanded. Immediately paramedic man obeyed. Duane pulled out some zip ties and tied the man's hands behind his back.

"Duane, that isn't necessary." I said.

Ignoring me he only whispered in the man's ear, "Now let's see how good a liar you are."

"I'm telling the truth, Duane."

"How could you ever know what Duane Barry and Marlene have been through? How could anyone know?"

Another pregnant pause. "It happened to my sister."

I turned to him, shocked. "Really? How old was she?"

His eyes turned sad, lost in memories. "Eight."

Duane, however, just grew angry at this, yelling, "You think you can lie to save their lives? I want some honesty! I want some respect!" I walked over and put a soothing hand on his arm, but it did nothing to calm him. He jerked his arm away and strode over towards the bound and gagged man. "I'm tired of all the B.S.!"

"How does it happen, Duane? When do they come to you? While driving, alone in bed at night? You're paralyzed, aren't you? You feel an electric shock and you can't move, can't even breathe! Isn't that right Duane-

Duane abruptly wrapped his arms around himself and squeezed his eyes shut, whispering the word no over and over. I recognized him having a flash back and hurried to his side, wrapping my arms around him. "Sh, Duane, they're not here, sh, they're not here." I whispered, surprisingly tender for, well, me. I felt his breathing calm and let go.

"Thanks Marly." I only gave him a small smile. Seeming to be utterly defeated he slumped to the floor. He turned back to the man. "You can hear them talking, talking to Duane Barry. But they don't talk. They read his mind. Right Marlene?" I nodded.

The man looked amazed, absorbed in Duane's words and made me wonder for a second, _does he really believe?_ "That's right." He said. "Abductees call it mind scan; it's a form of mental telepathy."

"I tell them I don't want to go, but they never listen. They know what I'm saying but they just…..go right about their business." Standing, he slowly approached the man and me. "You tell him, Marly. Tell him what they do to you and Duane Barry." I looked down, not liking the surge of memories that surfaced.

"Tests." I said simply, looking away. Duane and the paramedic man gave me sympathetic looks.

"They drilled holes in Duane's Barry's teeth once. THEY DRILLED HOLES IN MY DAMN TEETH!" Duane yelled, nearly losing his thread of sanity. However, after a moment, he quieted down. "And Marly. Oh they hurt Marly real bad." He turned to me with a look of sympathy and admiration. "But she never screams. Nope, not Marly."

I smiled. "Thanks Duane." I turned to the man, the man who believed. "It's tough. Tough enough to make somebody crack." I gestured towards Duane.

"It's like living with a gun to your head." Duane said. "Never knowing when it's about to go off."

"How do they find you?"

"Implants." I said. Duane spoke up as well. "In your belly button, gums, sinus cavity."

"I'm sorry that happened to you both." I only shrugged. Then I turned to the women, terrified, huddling in the corner.

"Hey, you don't have to look so scared. Duane's really nothing but a big old softy. Really." They just continued to cower down. Sighing I turned back to Duane. "You should let them go, Duane."

Paramedic man spoke up. "The women are of no consequence to you, Duane. Let them go."

"It's the right thing to do, Duane." I said, gently. And then he said, "Okay, but he stays." He meant the doctor. We both nodded, though doc looked terrified. I approached the women, grabbing ones arm and helping her up. "Come on, get out of here." An older one quickly began to exit but the younger one paused turning to face Duane Barry and myself.

"I-I just want to say that I believe you. Both of you." And with that, they left. I turned to Duane, shocked, and he was shocked to.

After a long moment of meaningful silence he spoke. "We're gonna need transportation."

"We?" I said. Duane nodded. "Doc, you, and me." I sighed, bummed that I had been dragged into his nutty plan.

"What do you want, Duane, a car?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know where you want to go?"

"They're going to tell me." I face palmed at how crazy that sounded.

"Duane, you can't leave here if you don't know where you want to go."

But then, all of a sudden, I saw a red dot on Duane's next. Oh god, they were going to kill him! I met eyes with the paramedic man who quickly called, "Duane! Come here!" Duane moved and I let out a loud sigh of relief. "You to, Marlene. Come here." I obeyed. "Now, I had to earn your trust. Now I need to ask you something. Are you making any of this up, either of you?" I shut my eyes, a bit upset that he doubted us after I truly thought he believed. Duane, however, was even more upset.

"You, you, calling Duane Barry a liar now?" _Oh shit._

"Duane, don't get upset- I began.

"You think I make it all up?" Paramedic man shook his head but I knew his next words were lies.

"No I don't. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry!"

"Duane will you listen to me for a second?"

It was then that Duane seemed to snap, grabbing the man by the scruff yelling, "You're just like everybody else! You don't believe Duane Barry! You don't believe me! I trusted you! I trusted you, like a fool!"

"Duane! Duane! Can I say something! I know you're tired, but there's something you forgot to do. You left the door unlocked, when you let the women leave, you didn't lock the door. Go lock the door, Duane. They can get in here, go lock the door." Duane began to walk away and I met the man's eyes, frowning. I knew what was happening, I knew Duane Barry was about to get shot. And I knew it was for the best, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it. Duane slowly approached the door, making me cringe. The man gave me a reassuring look. I nodded. BANG! Duane Barry was shot. Immediately S.W.A.T. people swarmed in. I scurried back, standing beside the paramedic man who said, "Stay calm. It's over now."

It was indeed over it seemed. The F.B.I. escorted me out and I was immediately questioned. Following the aliens instructions I said that I was never an abductee, I simply fed into Duane's crazy delusion for his trust. So, I was returned home to my foster parents who basically grounded me for eternity after nearly making me deaf from hours of yelling. And I went to bed, depressed at how things had turned out yet happy at the same time. Little did I know, that the following night I was in for one hell of a surprise.


	2. Chapter 2- Ascension

I was in my room, working on some Algebra homework, blasting TNT by AC/DC because it made me feel badass. _Yeah, I'm the shit. Well, except when it comes to Algebra. _Sighing I threw my pencil down, utterly confused. I hadn't exactly gotten the best sleep after last night's adventures so today school was a synonym for nap time. Then, my phone rang. _Ugh. Damn telemarketers._ So, as usual, I ignored. But whoever it was called again. And again. And again. I felt a curious sense of déjà vu. Yet, it couldn't be Duane. He was in the hospital under police guard. _Right?_ It rang again. Feeling a strange sense of foreboding in my gut I answered.

"Hola, como estas?"

"Marly?" I froze. _It can't be._

"Duane?"

"I'm outside." Gasping I leapt up and quickly opened by previously shut blinds, seeing him standing his front of his car below in the unforgiving rain.

"How in the- hold on, I'll be right down." Throwing a jacket on over my T-shirt and grabbing a beany I ran downstairs. I wasn't worried about my so called parents, they were conducting their own business in the bedroom right then. Opening the front door I ran out to Duane.

"Dude, what are you doing here, you're supposed to be in the hospital!" Unbelievably, he looked hurt.

"Marly isn't happy to see Duane Barry?" I sighed heavily.

"No, Duane, of course I'm happy to see you but, I mean, why are you, you know, here?" He smiled impishly and it made me nervous.

"They ain't taken me this time, Marly. Nope, they're taking somebody else!" Gulp.

"What do you mean, Duane?" He beckoned forward, around to the trunk of the car. I followed, uneasy. Then, he opened the trunk. Inside lay a woman, red haired, bound and gagged with blood dripping from her mouth. The worst part was I recognized her. _She was one of the F.B.I. agents there last night! _Her eyes widened with recognition as well and looked at me pleadingly. "D-Duane…." _What do I do? I need to call the police!_

"Duane Barry wants you to come with him."

"Come where?"

"The place. The place where I was first abducted. Her in exchange for me." _Okay, okay Marlene, think of something!_

"Okay Duane, I'll come. I just need to grab, um, my house key first, okay?" Hearing the trunk slam shut quickly I began inside only to be stopped by his rage filled voice.

"You think…..you think you can call the police?" _Dammit! How did he….the aliens. _ With my back still turned I replied, "No, Duane, I-

"YOU THINK YOU CAN BETRAY DUANE BARRY!" I ran, bolting up the steps of the house, fighting to reach the front door in time. But, he caught my ankle, sending me crashing to the ground. I felt blood stain my teeth. I opened my mouth to scream but it was immediately covered by a hand, so tightly that my lip split. "I TRUSTED YOU! YOU BITCH!" He grabbed his belt and pulled it off quickly, forcing me to lie on my stomach, digging my face into the ground to keep me from screaming. With the belt he restricted my hands behind me. Then, leaning close he whispered hauntingly in my ear, "Scream and you'll regret it." He hauled me up forcing me to sit in the passenger sit. He was even oh so kind as to buckle my seat belt for me. Then, he got in, started the car and drove. I gulped, a bit frightened but determined not to show it.

"Duane, you don't want to do this."

"QUIET!" I shut up. So, we drove for hours on end in silence. At least, that is until the police man came.

An incredibly annoying song was playing on the radio and of course Duane had to freaking blast it. We were in a beautiful forest on Route 229, but it was hard to enjoy the beautiful scenery with Duane's erratic driving. I felt bad for the agent in the trunk. Then, the sirens came. A police car came from a turn and started following us. _YES!_ Duane looked nervous, eyes widening. "One word and I shoot ya!" He exclaimed. I wanted to believe that he didn't mean it, but right then, he was pretty off his rocker. Slowly, the officer approached. Duane shot me a death glare before rolling down the window.

"Sir, can you please turn off your radio?" _Oh good, I'm not the only one who thinks this is horrible music. Wait, focus, Marlene! Should I risk it?_

"I would officer but I've gotta get going." The man's eyes went over to me. Then, they looked downward to Duane's hospital band, bloodied. He looked back to me and I gave a subtle nod.

"Sir, put your hands on the steering wheel where I can see em'"

"You don't understand. They're waiting for me, I can't be late."

"Put your hands up and exit the vehicle!"

"No. I gotta keep moving." I was frozen, not even daring to breath. "Please," Said Duane. "For your own sake." It was then I saw the Duane I knew, the gentle giant trampled on by events beyond his control. And in that moment my heart ached for him. "Don't stop Duane Barry."

The officer, however, had no sympathy and I didn't blame him. "Sir, put your hands up!" Bump! Bump! Noise came from the trunk, the agent was trying to get help. And then, it happened fast. So, so, fast. Duane pulled out a gun….and shot the man dead. I gasped, shaking from the loud bang, eyes trapped on the bloody man outside. _What if he was a father? What about his family? He was just doing his job!_ Seeing that act of injustice hurt worse than any tests the aliens could give and I had a strange feeling they knew as much. Duane got out, carelessly walking past the body as if it were a wax figure and not the cold body of a real person. Turning my head I saw him open the trunk and examine the agent. For several minutes it was quiet, just him staring at her and me staring at him. Then, with a loud sigh, he slammed the trunk shut and got back in, starting up the car and beginning to drive. All of a sudden about what just happened boiled in my veins.

"What the hell, Duane!" I shouted. "That was an innocent man! You had no right to kill him, no right!" He only sighed again.

"He was trying to stop Duane Barry. Duane Barry had to."

"No, you didn't have to do any of this!"

"Yes, yes, Duane Barry did. Now be quiet or Duane will have to make you quiet."

I gasped, shocked at the passive aggressive threat I just received. "You dare to threaten me! You, you evil BASTARD!" Duane stopped the car abruptly and turned back to me with fire in his eyes.

"Quiet bitch!" He raised his hand. I tried to shield myself but he still managed to slap with all the force he could muster. I had to bite my lip to keep from making a small sound of pain.

"No, no this is not the Duane Barry I know. My Duane wouldn't kill an innocent man or slap his best friend!" He looked stunned and hurt by my words, and for a moment I saw a flicker of guilt. Yet then his manic side took over once more.

"Get out of the car!" I was frozen, confused by his words. "I said get out!" Reaching over me he opened my door and shoved me onto the cold, hard asphalt. He got out as well and grabbed something from the backseat. I cowered a bit as he strode towards me, looking far too tall. Roughly he grabbed my ankles and tied them together with a strip of cloth. With my hands still bound behind my back I could not free myself or even move. "Goodbye Marly." Duane whispered. I looked up eyes widening. Almost no one came down here, I could die of dehydration!

"D-Duane, no-

He got in the car.

"Duane! You bastard! Get your ass back here!" He drove away.

"DUANE!"

I don't know how long I just lay there before the car came. It was an old red ford occupied by two men. Seeing it I felt the first ray of hope I had felt in far too long.

"HELP!" I screamed, frankly trying to sit up with no avail. "HELP ME!" The car stopped and hastily two men got out. I looked up. "You." It was the paramedic man from Duane's hostage incident, only wearing a suit this time and looking beyond exhausted. Beside him was another suit clad man with dark hair and brown eyes. He recognized me immediately as well.

"Marlene? Marlene, what are you doing here?"

"Duane fucking kidnapped me and another F.B.I. lady. He just left me here to die." The other man kneeled down asking, "Are you okay?" I shrugged.

"Been better." I looked at the paramedic man. "Been worse."

"Well, I'm Mulder and that's Krycek. We're in a hurry and are going to have to take you with us."

"But- Krycek began.

"Untie her feet." Mulder knelt down as well and freed my arms. A minute later my feet were also unbound.

"Thanks."

"Let's go."

Mulder leapt into the driver's seat, Krycek in the passenger's seat and yours truly in the backseat.

"So, Duane Barry abducted you?"

"Yeah, last night, you see…." I went on to tell them my story. By the time I was done we had arrived at the near top of the mountain thanks to Mulder's speedy driving.

"Let's go, Marlene." We all hurried out of the car. A man walked out of a building and approached us. He seemed to be a worker at _Skyland Mountain_.

"Excuse me." Krycek and Mulder flashing their badges was enough of an introduction for him. "What can I help you with?" Mulder pulled out a photo. At a glance I saw that it was a mug shot of Duane Barry.

"Have you seen this man?"

"Yeah, came by about forty five minutes ago."

"Did he have a woman with him?"

"No."

"Did you let him up the lift?" Mulder meant a giant ski lift heading to the tip of the mountain.

"No, it's closed during the summer, told him to take the back road up."

"And how long does that take?"

"Little over an hour." Uh oh. _Mulder, you had better get up there!_

"You gotta get me up there." He said, looking for reassurance skyward.

"No! No way! We just got done refitting the cable, hasn't been tested with passengers yet. You'll have to drive."

"I don't have the time."

"You don't have a choice." Mulder's face became firm, firm with determination and…love? He put a hand on his gun.

"No, _you_ don't have a choice."

We were walked to the cars. "Mulder?" He looked down to me.

"Yeah?"

"I need to come." Startled Krycek stepped between us.

"No, no way!" Mulder looked to me.

"I agree, you can't." He stepped into the car but I quickly hopped in after and shut the door, locking it.

"Marlene!" He said, looking angry. "What are you doing?"

"Same as you, saving your friend, now let's go!" Our gazes held one another's for several seconds until he finally nodded.

"Mulder! Mulder!" Krycek yelled, but his voice soon faded from the hum of moving cables. At first it went well, both of us standing silently, watching the trees below. But then, "base to car one, base to car one." Mulder picked up a little radio. "You have to slow down."

"Sorry, you're breaking up." I snorted.

"You have to slow down for the approaching tower!" I ran over and quickly lowered the cars speed to fifteen. We passed the first tower with ease. Then, Mulder cranked up the speed once more. We continued slowing down and speeding up until we neared the top. Then, just as we were about to pull in, the car abruptly stopped.

Our eyes met, both of us wondering what the hell was happening. Mulder quickly picked up the small hand held radio. "What are you doing, turn this thing back on. Krycek? Krycek, can you hear me? Tell the operator to turn this thing on! Krycek!" I felt an odd sensation in the pit of my stomach. Something about Krycek bothered me. _Almost as if he's betraying us._ "Is there an emergency system on board? Can you read me down there! Can anyone read me?" We locked eyes once more, realizing that we were on our own. Mulder went over to a little seat and opened it up, revealing gear to scale down the coils. Meanwhile I explored the ceiling for some sort of escape hatch. There! "Mulder, look up there!" He turned to see what I was addressing and pulled a latter down, climbing up and entering the roof of the car.

"Stay there!" He yelled. I rolled my eyes, wondering where else I could have gone. For a moment the world was still, silent save for Mulder's feet on the metal roof. But then, then things sped up once more. The care began to move. I gasped, fearing for Mulder and grabbed the remote control yelling,

"Stop! Stop moving! Mulder's going to fall!" The tram kept moving, however, and I found myself feeling sick thinking of this man plummeting to his death. Looking out the window I saw we were almost to port. _Hang on, Mulder. _Then, after agonizing seconds, we arrived. Mulder climbed down the ladder. "Thank God, you okay?" I asked. He nodded and then quickly opened up the tram doors.

"We have to hurry, let's go Marlene!"

We raced up, running and running as twilight turned to utter darkness. Mulder was really fast but somehow I managed to keep up. After about ten minutes of straight running we saw the car. "That's Duane Barry's car!" I exclaimed. Mulder pulled out his gun, instructing me to stay behind him. I obeyed. The car was empty, devoid of Duane or his hostage. Yet, when Mulder moved to search the trunk we were met with an alarming sight. Bloodied rope and a cross necklace. Just as Mulder lifted it up a bright light came. "The aliens!" I cried. "Come on, they're going to take her!" I scurried forward ignoring Mulder's calls.

"Marlene! Wait, it's too dangerous, Marlene!" I felt him catching up to me, both of us full on sprinting. Up ahead I heard loud, jubilant laughter.

"YEAH! YES!" Over a hill I came face to face with Duane Barry. Now, Mulder had caught up and shoved me behind him.

"Stay here." He ran over to Duane, gun cocked and pointed. "FREEZE!" Duane ignored him. "I SAID FREEZE! WHERE IS SHE?"

"I'M FREE! I'M FREE YOU SONS OF BITCHES! YOU CAN'T HURT DUANE BARRY ANYMORE!" Unbelievably of all the emotions I could have felt at that moment, I felt jealousy. Jealousy that Duane would no longer be tortured as I would be. Or, so he said.

"DON'T MOVE!" Mulder grabbed Duane's hands and pulled them behind his back as Duane continued to gleefully laugh. "WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'D YOU LEAVE HER?"

"They took her." He turned his head to see me. "Right, Marly? That was their ship?" I didn't reply, unsure of what to say. Because I did recognize the light to be their ship and I didn't want to be the one to tell Mulder what that woman was going through right now. And then, then the bright light returned.

"NO! NO! NO!" Duane yelled, hysterical.

"Duane!" I yelled. "It's just a helicopter, Duane!" And indeed it was.

Duane was shoved into a cop car and driven away. A suited man was yelling at Mulder for my involvement while my social worker screamed at me for the same thing. Apparently my foster family was tired of my sneaking out and had released care of me. "A nice family and you just had to throw it all away- I tuned her out. It was past midnight by the time we got home. Well, by home I mean Children's Haven, where I roomed with a sniffles infected four year old. I never got to talk to or say goodbye to Mulder. I figured my adventure was over. But, there was more yet to come. Two days later I was called down to meet my new host family. And there stood Agent Mulder.


	3. Chapter 3- 3

It was a normal morning at the Haven, by which I mean it sucked. All night my roommate's sniffling had kept me up, breakfast was eggs that looked like boogers, and I had dish washing duty. Fantastic. However, after a lunch of compressed ham by product sandwiches, things got a tad bit more interesting. I was in the kitchen, washing dirty dishes, humming _Gives you Hell_.

"Marlene! Marlene Sanders!" I jumped at the shrill voice of the head social worker's, dropping a plate and watching it shatter.

"Dammit!"

"Marlene, get yourself cleaned up, there's a man who wants to foster you!"_ Am I the only one who thought that sounded wrong?_ "What happened to that plate?" I only shrugged, eager to get out of her presence. I threw off my kitchen gloves and apron, rushing to the interview room. When I got there and opened up the door boy oh boy was I surprised.

"Mulder." I gasped, for there he stood in all his glory.

"Hey Marlene." The social worker looked back in forth between us.

"How exactly do you two know each other?"

Figuring the truth wouldn't be helpful I said, "I used to walk his dog when I lived with the Perites." Mulder smiled a bit. Blinking she replied,

"Oh well, um, Marlene, Mr. Mulder here has passed all our background checks and is ready to take you home….so….just go grab your stuff, I suppose." Not having to be asked twice I darted out of the room and grabbed my bag, throwing everything in there in seconds flat. It was probably the fastest packing anyone's ever done. Smiling I ran back down where Mulder stood.

"That was fast." Cheeks heating up a bit I only shrugged. Mulder laughed a bit and said, "Come on." Walking out of the Haven was the most amazing experience. _I won't screw this one up,_ I thought._ This is going to be my new family._ Mulder led me to his blue ford and grabbed my one bag, stuffing it into the trunk. I joined him passenger's side. We began to drive.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked suddenly.

"I've been wanting to foster a kid for some time. Thought, why not you?"

"Bull. Tell me the real reason." He sighed.

"You're pretty sharp, huh?"

"As a tack. Now tell me." He sighed again. "It's because of your sister, isn't it?" His eyes widened and he looked a bit stunned.

"Yes." There was a beat of silence.

"Well thanks."

"No problem." The rest of the ride was silent, but not in an awkward way. Actually, it was quite comfortable. Mulder seemed to be a quiet thoughtful type, only talking when he had something to say. Then we arrived at a apartment building. Mulder grabbed my bag and walked me inside. Inside his apartment was nice, though clearly a single man's home due to the lingering yet cleverly disguised disorder and lack of décor. "Your room's down the hall, first door on the left." I nodded and walked down the hall, pushing open the door. Before me lay a white room; white carpet, walls, bed. I immediately hated it. Mulder came up behind me. "You can decorate if you want. White doesn't seem to be your thing." I smiled.

"What led you to that conclusion?" "Hmm…..maybe the pink hair, bright red lipstick and purple eye shadow or rainbow T-shirt?" I snorted.

"I like colors."

"I noticed." And that was that conversation.

Mulder set down my bag and walked into the front room me following like a lost puppy.

"So," he said, clapping his hands, "ground rules. Um…..try not to break anything and yeah….that's pretty much it. Oh! No more helping out on missions, alright?" I frowned.

"Why not? Don't you think am abductee would be useful on a couple?" He nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"About that-

I gasped, outraged. "You don't believe me! Even after everything and Duane and-

"Marlene, hold on-

"To think I thought you were a believer and you believed be and-

"Marlene!" I shut up as he yelled. Both of us took a deep breath, calming down. "Marlene, look I wanted to say that I do believe you. And I was wondering…..wondering if I could ask you some questions about your abduction experiences?"

My stomach clenched a bit. I had never told anyone before. Yet, I almost…wanted to. It was like a mountain resting heavy on my shoulders, beating me down all the time. "What do you want to know?" His eyes widened, surprised.

"When did it first start?"

I slowly sat down on the couch and he sat beside, though not to close.

"It started when I was six."

"Six?" He echoed, aghast.

"Yeah. I was at my very first foster home. And one night, they came."

"What do they look like?"

"They're tall, buff I guess, brownish green with these black eyes sparkling with inhuman intelligence. Like Duane said, they speak in your mind. They told me not to scream or cry. And I didn't."

"What did they do to you?" Mulder whispered.

My throat choked a bit but I forced myself to stay strong. "T-they, they put in the trackers and they, they opened up my skull, tested my brain. They drilled holes in my teeth. They filled my organs with gas to make them bigger and examined them. They gave me shots, a lot of shots and they never once tried to numb the pain. They said that our pain was all part of the experiment." My eyes grew wet and I quickly looked away. Mulder, from the corner of my wet eye, looked stricken with grief for me and his sister both. It was that, the pain in his eyes, the sorrow and compassion that broke me. I started to sob.

"D-d-dammit, I-I'm s-sor-ry."

"Hey," He said, scooting closer. "It's okay. Crying is perfectly understandable." He gently put an arm around me, carefully, unsure of how I would react to the contact. I leaned into him, still crying. It was amazing, the link I already felt with this man I barely knew. Maybe it was because he believed me. Yet, I sensed it was more than that- it was fate. I cried for a good ten minutes before I finally managed to shut myself up. Face red from embarrassment I pulled away.

"Sorry. I never cry, that was weird."

He withdrew his arm saying, "It's all good. Thanks for, you know, telling me that….stuff." Not liking the awkwardness I stood, determined to fix it.

"I'll make dinner."

He raised an eyebrow. "You cook?"

I gasped, mock offended. "Yes, I cook wonderful and you're going to like my food, we clear?"

He laughed. "Crystal."

"Good."

My first evening at the Mulder residence was wonderful. Mulder did enjoy my Wolfgang worthy pasta and we laughed the night away talking about everything and nothing. Yet, as ten drew near and the sky turned into an inky abyss I tucked myself under the warm sheets with a strange sense of foreboding. And for good reason. The aliens came.

I was aboard their ship while they injected liquid fire into my veins.

"Ow, dammit!"

**We do not appreciate you telling our affairs to Mulder.**

"Well sorry!" I said sassily.

**It would be wise not to take such tones with us.**

Another injection. "Yeah, yeah."

**We have a job for you.**

"According to U.S. Law minors under the age of sixteen cannot work."

**Very humorous. Keep Mulder out of our affairs.**

"Uh…how would he? He's just an FBI agent."

**He is more than you believe.**

"That sounded ominous."

**We're serious. Serve us well Marlene, or else.**

They ripped out all the needles making me cringe and began to levitate me back to my bedroom.

"Oh, hey aliens?"

**Yes?**

"How did y'all keep Mulder from noticing this whole affair?"

**We can come quietly when we wish to. He slept straight through it.**

"Oh. Cool."

**Remember our wishes. See you soon, Marlene.**

I rolled my eyes. "Can't wait!" In a flash they were gone. Yawning I collapsed back into sleep.

"Marlene? Marlene! Marly, get up!" I felt a hand on my arm, which of course had to be the sight of all of last night's injections, and shot up in pain. "Woah!" Mulder leapt back, surprised.

"Sorry." I yawned. "What you doing waking me up so early?"

"It's eight."

"My point exactly."

Shaking his head he announced, "I've got to go to work. So, well, my neighbor, an old lady named Miss Higgins was supposed to look after you but well, she had a stroke, so I guess you're coming with me."

I grinned. "Awesome!"

"Yeah, well, be ready in ten." He started to leave.

"Ten! I'm a girl!"

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." And with that he left.

Mulder seemed to enjoy quiet car rides. Therefore, the ride to work was, you guessed it, silent. We arrived at this awesome tall building. Walking in, it was lined with tons of offices and people in suits hurrying about. We finally arrived at Mulder's office, which I was surprised to find, was covered up, as if it had been unoccupied.

"Uh…moving out or something?"

"No, I was just….off the X Files for a while."

"The X Files?"

He smiled a bit. "The X Files. Paranormal cases unsolved by the FBI. Basically, the weird stuff normal agents can't handle."

"Well, you're certainly not normal so I guess you fit the bill." Shaking his head he walked over to a calendar on the wall. Looking over I choked on air.

"Is that a calendar of women in bikinis with tools?" His cheeks turned pink.

"Uh…"

"I am utterly disgusted! That is abusing the image of women!" He paused with a raised eyebrow, taking in my short skirt and lacy shirt.

"Oh whatever!" Laughing a bit he turned the calendar to August, the current month. Then he pulled a file out of his briefcase, looking at it sadly. Walking over I read its label. Dana Scully. "Who's she?"

"The woman abducted by Duane Barry."

I gasped. "Really?" He nodded, still looking incredibly forlorn. "Did you know her?"

"She used to be my partner." My heart went out to him.

"Oh." There was an eon long pause. "She'll turn up. They practically never kill abductees."

He nodded, pulling out a gold cross necklace I assumed was hers and putting it into his pocket.

"I hope so Marly, I really do." Just then, the phone rang. Mulder turned and answered.

"Hello? Uh huh. A case? Now?...yeah…all right…on my way."

"We got a case?" He looked at me funny.

"_I've_ got a case."

"What do you plan on doing with me, selling me to the sausage factory?"

"….what?"

"You know I have a point." He sighed. "Come on Mulder, you have to let me come! Please! Please! Pleeeeeaaaasssseeeee!" He groaned.

"Fine. But know now that there is no way you're going on any other mission. I'm only letting you come because Ms. Higgins is in the hospital." I smirked. _We'll see about that._

We arrived in California a few hours later and immediately went from the airport to the scene of the crime. I was excited, feeling as if my life had turned into an awesome crime show. The sky overhead was foggy from smoke pouring into the heavens due to the massive wildfire. Planes flew overhead, depositing red dust onto the fire. We arrived at a nice mansion that made my jaw drop. Mulder turned to me.

"Okay, Marly, behave, stay quiet, keep your head down, got it?" I snorted but noticed him staring at me sternly.

"Yes sir!" He put his head in his palm and got out me following.

"Excuse me sir?" A police officer approached us. "May I ask you're…" His eyes landed on me. "…involvement. This is a classified area." All suave Mulder opened up his badge.

"Agent Mulder. I'm with the Bureau."

He raised an eyebrow. "And who is she?"

"She's with me."

"Sir, children aren't permitted-

"I said," He began firmly, "She's with me." The man seemed unsure what to do and eventually nodded.

"No one called the Bureau."

Mulder lifted up some yellow tape and walked under, allowing me to follow. "They should have."

"Sir, the L.A. P.D. has seen some weird crimes around here so I think we can handle it."

"There's no time for agency rivalries right now. I don't care about credit for the arrest or what goes on who's record." They began to walk with me trailing behind, listening intently. "For the past year these killers have murdered six people in two states. They only kill at night. By the end of the week two more people will be dead and they will be gone." Both myself and police man were shocked.

"Just how do you know all this?" He asked, annoyingly skeptical.

"There's a file on the previous murders. I've studied it, I've studied _them_. I've been waiting three months for them to reappear."

Ever the skeptic police man replied in that annoying whiny voice of his, "And how can you be sure that these are the same killers?"

Mulder didn't skip a beat. "The wire reported that they found a body drained of blood, bite marks on the exterior jugular and median cubidle veins. Every mirror in the house was smashed." Woah! That almost sounded like….vampires. _No way! Well, actually, if aliens exist why the hell not?_ It was then that I realized just how much cool stuff I would see with Mulder. _Cause there's no way in hell he's leaving me behind!_

"Yeah well, it's what the wire didn't report that distinguished this scene."

"There's writing on the wall. Written in the victim's blood." We walked over to a wall in a room adjoining the garage where John 52:54 was indeed written in blood.

"Wicked." I breathed.

Mulder began to recite the verse, which he somehow knew by heart. Huh. "' 'He who eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood shall live eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.' They have the same literal grasp on the bible that all those big haired preachers do." I laughed a bit, making the men look at me. We walked back out front in silence until Mulder said, "He was a father?"

"Yes. Three boys. The family's been notified."

Mulder recited the other victims which I zoned out on, looking at the blood filled Jacuzzi in front of me. I wasn't grossed out, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant site either. I zoned back in to see Mulder opening up the drain and putting his gloved hands into the water.

"I believe that's how they view themselves, as some kind of unholy trinity." He pulled out a small needle. "They use these to extract the blood and store it for a quick fix later. Their needs is indelible but murdering for blood risks exposure and capture. If my evidence from old cases hold true they've been living in the city for a month and working near blood products."

The cop and I were both shocked by Mulder's obvious intellect and handle on this odd situation. "Look, Agent Mulder, I'm sorry for being such a hard a.." He looked at me, "er, guy back there. In this town it's hard to trust anyone. Truth is I'd be happy for you to help on our investigation. Now, that over there is detective Gwenn-

"I'm working alone." Said Mulder. _Hey what am I, chopped liver?_

"An FBI agent without a partner?" Oh shit, shouldn't have gone there. I saw the sadness, the loneliness in Mulder's eyes arise. "Look, Agent Mulder, our department is on high alert from the fire, I don't think I'll be able to clear up many resources for you."

"I only need one thing. Let's go Marly." We walked back to the car and hopped in.

"Vampires?"

"It seems to be so."

"Wicked. So what was that one thing you needed?"

The thing, it turns out, was the addresses of various blood banks. We had checked into a shabby motel but I was thrilled because it was only a half an hour bus ride from the beach. While I watched nickelodeon Mulder was highlighting all the blood banks in the area with, ironically, a blood red highlighter.

"I have to head into the station. Want to go to the beach?" I shook my head, turning off _Sponge Bob_.

"No way are you getting rid of me that easily." He sighed.

"Let's go."

At the station Mulder made some phone calls while I played with a drug sniffing dog named Peanut. Finally he emerged saying "Hollywood Blood Bank."

I grinned. "Let's make like a tree and _leaf_." He laughed.

"Not bad kid."

I smiled.

The place was a horror movie director's dream. Dimly lit, red containers stuffed with blood, and an ominous feeling that rested in your stomach's pit for starters.

"You sure you don't want to wait upstairs?"

"No way! This is so cool!"

"Keep your voice down!" He whispered.

"Sir, yes, sir."

Mulder whipped out a flashlight and we slowly walked through the place, nerves on high alert. We reached some stairs. Mulder stepped down making it creak. He paused then continued on. _Walking down these stairs was like going down to hell_, I thought. Step. Step. Step. All of a sudden we heard a sound behind us. My heart literally stopped. Mulder, however, was not one to let fear freeze him up and whipped out his gun…only to find a worker looking like he was about to piss himself. Both Mulder and mine's nerves calmed. Mulder put away his gun.

"Sorry man," Said the worker, a buck toothed black man, "Didn't know you were there. We got some freak watchman down here, always breaking the light bulbs." Speaking of light bulbs, one just went off in my head and probably in Mulder's to.

"Can you show me where he works?"

"Sure man, follow me." He paused, seeing me for the first time. "Uh, what's with the little lady?"

Mulder sighed, getting tired of this question. "She's with me." This man was easier to please than the cop and he just nodded, leading us down into the dark catacombs beneath. We finally reached a metal door which the nice man unlocked.

"I'll wait upstairs."

Mulder turned to me. "You want to go up as well?"

"Nope."

"Stay behind me and stay quiet then, got it?" I nodded, knowing this was no time for joking around. We slowly crept forward and I found myself wanting to clutch onto his sleeve, but obviously refrained. Slurp. Slurp. Bang. Noises up ahead. Mulder shone the light into the next room, barren besides a desk with some stuff on it. Slurp. Slurp. Grabbing a mirror Mulder looked into the next room, where the source of the sound seemed to be. He obviously saw nothing because he put it down and looked in. I followed his lead. And there he was. A man, slurping blood out of a blood bag. I gagged a little loudly, startling him.

"Federal Agent!" Mulder yelled, pushing me back. The man began to run around. "Freeze!" He threw some glass at Mulder, pissing me off.

"Hey bloodsucker!" I yelled. He turned to me, distracted. This gave Mulder the chance to jump him, pinning him down and cuffing his hands behind his back. "Oh yeah, kick his ass Mulder!"

The cops came and took the man away after eternity in silence with the mad man. Mulder turned to me.

"What were you thinking?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yelling 'Hey bloodsucker'! You could have gotten hurt!"

I reared back, pissed. "You needed a distraction and I gave you one!"

Mulder sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look what you did was very brave, but I can't have you getting hurt. I'm sending you back to the hotel."

"What, no!"

"Yes. I'm your legal guardian and what I say goes."

Indeed it did for I was sent back. What exactly Mulder did after I still do not know. All I do know is he didn't return until two o' clock in the afternoon of the next day looking more sad and forlorn than ever. He had lost something, someone, and as much as I wanted to ask I knew better to. So we returned home and I proceeded to spend another two months at the Mulder residence. School started, unleashing a whole new hell into my life.


	4. Chapter 4- One Breath

On August 30 I attended my first day of high school. On August 30 I also got expelled from high school. It started off as a normal morning. Well normal enough. My newly purchased alarm clock blared at six a.m. and I groggily woke up, my newly painted room reminding my off a kaleidoscope through my bleary eyes. The walls were now lime green with a tie dye bed spread, a hot pink lamp, a purple chair, and an orange rug. I officially loved Mulder for letting me decorate it. I quickly threw on some black tights, combat boots, booty shorts and another lacy top. Walking out I found Mulder already up with a cup of coffee. I was surprised. Lately Mulder had slept a lot. He seemed to be extremely depressed and angry about his partner's disappearance. I was confused, they never abducted someone for this long. I was pretty sure both of us feared that she might be dead. His eyes widened upon seeing me.

"What?"

"Go change."

"What? Why?"

"You're not getting kicked out of school the first day for dressing like a...you know."

I huffed. "This technically fits dress code."

"Go change. Now Marlene." _Uh oh. He used my full name. _Sighing I ran back into my room throwing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt which read _Want Fries With That? _Walking out I found a plate of eggs and bacon awaiting me.

"Much better."

"I aim to please. Are you trying to kill me?"

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"You cooked."

"So, I cooked for years before you came."

"Must be why you're so nuts." Instead of laughing like I expected he put his head in his hands and said,

"Just eat it Marlene." I quickly obeyed feeling sorry for the dude. It was disgusting, the eggs were uncooked and the bacon was over cooked. Yet, I somehow I muddled through if only to please him. I walked outside to catch the bus. And that was when the trouble first started.

"Why do you have pink hair?" A snotty girl asked as we awaited the bus.

"I like pink."

"Well it's weird."

"Well I don't give a shit about what you think." She gasped loudly, drawing the attention of her snotty friends.

"Did you just cuss her out?" One snarled. I raised an eyebrow.

"Sweetheart, I said one cuss word." Thank God or whatever dominant force existed the bus chose to arrive right then. I began to load up first only to have snotty number one shove me. I nearly turned and decked her right there but I managed to keep my cool, boarding and sitting next the only kid with a vacant spot beside him. He looked nerdy. You know, he just had that _look_. He wore khakis with a blue button up shirt and glasses. He had tan skin with dark curly hair and bright green eyes. He turned to me as I sat, eyes wide with surprise.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Sitting. Got a problem with that?" I snarled, done with these stupid kids. He flinched and looked terrified. I sighed. "Look, there's no where else to sit so, sorry."

"O-oh it's just...no one sits next to me."

My brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"I'm, well, I'm a freak. You had better not hang around me, it's social suicide." He tried to keep a straight face but I could see the sadness there, the loneliness. It reminded me of Mulder.

"Like I give a damn about social graces." A pause. "I'm Marlene, but everyone calls me Marly."

He smiled. "Norman. No nickname."

"You a freshman?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yup."

"What's your first period?" It turns out we had several classes together due to our AP courses.

"So, did you attend East Borrow Middle School?"

"No, west."

"Oh did you just move?"

I sighed. Here we go. "I got a new foster family." There it was. The sadness, the pity.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's all good." There was a pause. "So, play any sports?" He shook his head. "Do anything extracurricular?" All of a sudden his demeanor turned nervous once more.

"Uh...well..."

"Yeah? Come on, spit it out."

"It's weird."

"You think the pink haired girl is afraid of weird?"

"Point taken. Alright, I'm into...you know...aliens." I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know, weird."

"No, it's cool. I'm actually into alien...stuff to."

"Really?" He sounded super excited.

"Yeah." The bus arrived. Getting off we continued to talk. Norman explained his alien theories and I explained mine, careful not to bring up the abduction experiences. We had first and third together so we sat together. Only, I noticed that I was getting all these weird glances from hanging out with Norman. They pissed me off. RIIINNGGG! We gathered our science books and headed out to lunch. "Where do you usually sit?"

He turned to me, looking nervous. "Are you sure you want to sit with me?"

"Positive." Only, just then some boys walked up, shoving Norman from behind. They weren't the steriotypical buff bullies, actually they looked like male models and from the haughty looks on their faces they knew as much. I immediately hated them.

"Hey freak." One of them said. "What are you doing with pinkie here? Made a friend?"

I stepped forward. "Yeah, he did. Got a problem with that?" They each raised an eyebrow, surprised by my attitude.

"Look girly, leave us to our business." One of them grabbed Norman into headlock, giving him a painful noogie. "Right Norman." He winced in pain.

"Y-yeah Marly, go!"

"No." I grit my teeth turning to the boy holding him. "Let him go, _now_." Another boy stepped forward, shoving me back.

"Lay off bitch." I shoved back, hard, sending him sprawling into the lockers.

"No. You lay off." I turned to the boy holding Norman. "Last chance." He glared at me. So I did it. Yes, I kicked him where the sun don't shine making him release my friend. Norman stumbled away just as leader man launched himself at me yelling, "Now you're gonna get it whore!"

I punched him hard in the nose but he managed to get a good blow to the stomach. The air left me and I gasped desperately.

"Hey!" Norman yelled. He ran forward and tried to punch the boy but he grabbed him and began punching him mercilessly. I growled and launched myself at him, cracking him hard in the ribs. Literally I heard a crack.

"Agh!" He pulled back clutching his midsection crying. "Y-you b-broke m-my r-rib!" He cried/yelled. Another bully launched himself at me, giving me a black eye. I managed to wrestle him to the ground, cracking his nose. It was then that a teacher came running. _Finally._

"They started it!" I yelled at Principle Herman. The old man seemed to not believe me which was quite annoying. Norman had already spoken, covering my story.

"Young lady, keep your voice down!"

"No! They're bullies and you want to punish me!"

"Miss Mulder you broke two ribs and a nose."

"They deserved it!"

"Miss-" Just then the door opened revealing Mulder.

"Marlene." He said, sounding angry and disappointed. "Wait outside." I obeyed, head down while Mulder spoke to the principle. As soon as I reached the hallway Norman approached me.

"Marly, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!"

"No it's not. It's those damn bullies fault." There was a pause.

"Thank you. For standing up for me."

"Hey, what are friends for." We exchanged smiles. We sat in the hallway for quite some time in silence, awaiting the verdict.

"So where do you live?" Norman asked.

"North Shore Apartments."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I live in apartment 2D!" My eyes widened.

"8C! I can't believe we live in the same building!"

"Right, we should totally study together!"

"You won't be studying together seeing as you're expelled." I whirled around to see Mulder standing behind me.

"WHAT!" Norman and I exclaimed simultaneously.

Mulder frowned at me, looking angry and depressed. "Yes. Let's go Marlene." He grabbed my arm, hauling me towards the entrance. 'See you later, sorry.' Norman mouthed, eyes bright with guilt.

Mulder slammed his door shut, turning to me with angry eyes.

"Really Marlene?"

"Well, they started it." He huffed loudly and angrily.

"I don't want to hear it! If they started it why then is there a boy with two broken ribs and another with a broken nose?"

"They gave me a black eye!"

"You just can't behave this way, Marlene!"

"I was standing up for my friend! They were bullying him and when I tried to stop them they threw a punch!"

"Well now what do I do, huh? Scully is gone and you have nowhere to go to school!" With that he put the car in drive and began a long, silent drive home.

A week past. I was now enrolled in a homeschool program. Norman and I hung out a lot. He was quickly becoming my best, and yes only, friend. Mulder wasn't nice to be around. He was constantly brooding over his partner's disappearance, depressed and angry at the world. We had rarely spoken in days past. That is until one night when everything changed. I was in my room reading a book on Neuroscience while Mulder lay on the coach staring blankly at the television. Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! I sighed at the annoying sound. However on the fifth ring I heard Mulder pick up and then slam the phone down a second later.

"Marlene! Marly, hurry!" I ran out, using my book as a makeshift shield.

"What, what is it? Has the zombie apocalypse come?" Mulder didn't even miss a beat with my strange comment saying,

"We're going to the hospital! They found her, they found Scully!"

I was astounded that we didn't get a ticket by the way Mulder drove. He parked flat out crooked and began speed walking into the hospital with me struggling to keep up. Hallway after hallway, room after room. Mulder began to jog telling me that we must be close.

"Sir you can't go in there-

A nurse struggled to stop Mulder but he plowed straight through, face shining with determination. And then, he opened a door and there she lay. She was hard to recognize with all the tubs in her and tape on her face yet there she was all the same. Beside her bed was a woman, her mother I presumed, looking at Miss Scully with sad, tired eyes similar to Mulder's.

"Who brought her here?" Mulder murmured. "How did she get here?" The nurse from earlier entered.

"Sir would you please-

"HOW DID SHE GET HERE!" We all flinched violently at his rage tinted voice.

"Ms. Scully was in this condition when I arrived for the evening shift. Now if you would step outside perhaps Dr. Daily-

"Is that Dr. Daily?" He walked outside and approached a fat balding doctor. "Are you Dr. Daily? What is going on , how did she get here?"

"Sir-

"WAS IT PARAMEDICS, FBI, MILITARY? ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!" I figured I had to intervene.

"Mulder, please calm down!"

"YOU'RE TELLING ME SHE JUST APPEARED! I WANT TO SEE HER ADMISSION FORMS, WHO DID THIS TO HER?" Mulder walked over to a desk and began riffling through the papers while the doctor tried in vain to calm him. Security guards came up and grabbed him by each arm, dragging him backwards.

"IF YOU'RE WITH THEM, I SWEAR I WILL DO ANYTHING, WHATEVER IT TAKES, I'LL FIND OUT WHAT THEY DID TO HER!" I quickly hurried after the security guards as they threw Mulder out and told him not to come back until he calmed himself. So Mulder just sat on the pavement, fuming. Slowly I sat beside him.

"You okay?"

"No."

"We'll find them. Whoever in the government did this, we'll find them."

"Damn right I will."

"No, Mulder. We will."

It took a long time for Mulder to calm himself but we finally went back into the hospital to talk to Scully's doctor. He mother was there as well. We sat silent and still, hardly daring to breathe as the doctor explained the woman's situation. No one knew had Dana had gotten there, though I suspected the aliens had simply and quietly dropped her off. No one knew why she was comatose. Not even I knew that, I had never seen tests resulting in a coma. But then, then came the real slammer. Dana's living will.

"She doesn't want to live in this condition." Mulder looked heartbroken, torn between losing his friend and honoring her wishes. Everyone was silent, unsure how to process this information. Mulder got up and went to see her while I sat with Mrs. Scully. The doctor eventually left as well. I heard a sniffle and looked over to see a tear pour from her eye.

"Mrs. Scully? Are you alright?" She nodded though I could tell she was not. I went and sat by her when all of a sudden she engulfed me in a hug. I let her hug me and cry on my shoulder knowing she needed a young girl to hold in her daughter's place. Eventually she let go and we walked in silence back to Scully's hospital room where I saw a young woman and Mulder talking.

"Hi mom." The woman said.

"I'm so glad you could come, Melissa." Mulder looked shocked.

"You're Scully's sister?" Indeed she was, wearing a long red dress and a crystal necklace. She dangled a crystal over Scully's body. I got the impression she was some sort of black magic practitioner. She put her hands out flat over the woman's body saying,

"Dana is choosing whether to remain or move on." The mother left at this, grief stricken. "You can feel her." Melissa said, grabbing Mulder's hand and stretching it over her body. Slowly I did the same.

"She's not here." Mulder said.

"No, you're blocking her, all your negative emotions, your anger."

Mulder withdrew his hand saying in a monotone voice, "I need to do more than wave my hands in the air." Yet as he left, I kept my hands above Dana feeling the oddest thing. I felt life, I felt a soul.

"You feel her." Melissa said, smiling a bit. In awe I nodded. "The gift, it's strong in you."

"Gift?"

"The gifts of the psychic." I blinked, stunned.

"Y-you mean, I-I'm a psychic?"

"Not yet, young one. But with practice you could be."

"Practice?"

"Come here." I obeyed, standing by her side. She pulled out the crystal pendulum and pressed it into my palm. "Slowly swing it, back and forth. Yes, good. Feel her life force. Connect. See her spirit. Feel her life within yours." An odd thing began to happen. Her voice faded away and the room blurred. I closed my eyes. Yet, I was not met with the blackness of shut lids. I was on a dock. Standing alone. It was beautiful, peaceful. The slow ripples of the shallow water, the earthy smell of divine nature. Tied to the dock was a wooden boat. And on that boat sat Dana Scully.

"Dana!" I yelled. She didn't reply. "Dana, you have to come back! Mulder misses you, you have to come back!"

"Peace young one." I whirled around to see a woman. She was plump, wearing a nurse's outfit labeled Nurse Owens.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Nurse Owens."

"How are you….you know…here?" She only smiled a tender loving smile.

"In time, Marlene. In time."

"How do you know my name?" Though, I wasn't nervous by her mysterious knowledge. If anything comforted was all I could feel in her presence.

"I know many things."

"Do you know if Dana will be okay?"

"Have faith, child. Go in peace." My eyes abruptly opened to see Melissa, staring at me with a worried expression.

"Where did you go?" I was too stunned to reply. "You saw her, didn't you?" I nodded.

"Marlene?" It was Mulder. "Time to go home." A pause. He looked suspiciously at Melissa. "Are you okay?" I nodded. As usual, the drive home was silent. Yet my brain was awhirl thinking of what I saw and my new abilities. I would have to see Melissa again soon.

The next day Mulder returned to the hospital but he forced me to stay home to 'study.' Yeah right. I had a mission of my own. I managed to scrounge some change together from between the sofa cushions, enough to catch the bus to the stop nearest the _Psychic Eye Book Shop_. I opened my door and began to walk out, only to ram face first into someone's chest.

"Uh, uh, hey Marly." I jumped away.

"Norman! Sorry, I didn't see you there, shouldn't you be in….Holy crap what happened to you!" His lip was split and one eye was swollen shut.

"It's nothing."

"That's something."

"Look, just…."

I frowned. "It was the bullies."

"Yeah."

"Norman, you have to tell the principle!"

"I've tried to, I've tried for years, they never do anything. I-I dropped out of school Marly. If you can't go I won't either." I gasped.

"Are you crazy? But you're so smart, you could be valedictorian!"

He snorted. "And you're not. You were in all AP to. But look, what's done is done. I was just wondering if you wanted to study some molecular physics." I smiled. This guy was totally my best friend.

"I wish I could but I have to go somewhere. Want to come?"

"Where are you going?"

"The _Psychic Eye Bookshop_." He raised an eyebrow.

"What prompted that?" I sighed.

"Promise not to call me crazy?"

"You think the alien obsessed dude is afraid of crazy?" I laughed. For the next ten minutes I told him my story and how I was believed to possess psychic abilities. "Woah." He said when I finished. "That's awesome! Sounds like you have a real gift for the supernatural Marles!"

"So you'll come?"

"Yeah, lunch is on me!"

Our bus pulled in and we got off.

"It should be about two blocks away from here." We walked the rest of the way making small talk, exchanging bits of our lives. Being with Norman was as easy as breathing, it was never awkward and the conversation never dropped abruptly. At least we arrived. The place was all hippie looking with shag carpeting, beads hanging about, and tons of shiny crystals with loud wallpaper. "Hello?" I called. A woman came out of a back room. She was thin, wearing a purple dress with long black hair and dramatic makeup.

"What can I do for you, young seer?"

"Seer?"

"You possess the gift, no?"

"How did you know?"

"Your soul burns bright with the gift of knowledge. Knowledge of the unknown, knowledge you will soon possess." Norman looked at me with wide eyes.

"What does she mean?" I ignored him.

"Can you train me in my gifts?" She smiled.

"All you need to do is practice. Sense those around you. Feel everyone's chakras ignite. Here, I have something for you." She walked over to a display of crystal necklaces and pulled out a black crystal on a red ribbon. Slowly, she lifted it over my head. "Free for you. Use it well."

"What does it do?"

"It heals, it sees. Go now and remember to practice my child!"

"That was…..interesting." We were at a subway where, despite my objections, Norman had paid for lunch. I fingered the crystal around my neck, deep in thought. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"You really think you're a psychic?" I shrugged.

"I guess."

Mulder got home late that night after Norman and I spent the day together. The subject of psychics had dropped eventually and we did indeed study physics together and then retired to watch a horror movie. I was surprised when Norman wasn't scared silly, he didn't seem like the type to be stoic while a monster bit a woman's head off on screen. The next day I felt an odd sense to go to the hospital despite Mulder's leaving me home. So, I caught another bus and went. Norman was at the dentists and I was partially glad. This was something I needed to do alone. I had to be careful not to run into Mulder yet luckily he was not in the room when I arrived. There lay Scully with only a small oxygen tube in her nose. Slowly I took of my necklace and swung it back and forth over her motionless body. The room began to blur and I closed my eyes.

I was at the dock once more with Nurse Owens. At first everything seemed to be well and peaceful. Until, in a sudden burst, the rope tethering Scully's boat to the dock snapped and she began to float away.

"No!" I yelled. "No! Come back!" I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Nurse Owens.

"Calm child. She must decide to come back." I opened my eyes.

Another day past. I stayed home. Norman came over and he was helping me with the subject I could not conquer: math. Yet, around six o' clock Mulder came home. Touching my crystal I opened up my senses to him and was immediately met by a wave of panic and rage.

"Marlene, I'm afraid you and your friend will have to leave the house for a bit."

"What why?"

"Don't ask questions!" He snapped but then calmed himself. "Please. Marlene. Promise me you won't come home until I get you."

"I-I promise."

"She can stay at my place." Norman said. Mulder nodded and we left.

"What was up with your dad?"

"Dad?"

"Er….guardian?"

"No, it's okay, dad's cool….I guess. And I don't know. I'm worried though. His spirit was disrupted. Something big is happening tonight, Norman. And I don't know what to do."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean? You're staying here."

I shook my head. "I have to see what's happening." The clock struck eight. "I'm going in there."

Norman stood. "What, Marlene, no!" I stood up as well and marched to the front door.

"Yes!" I opened the door and strode down the hall.

"Marlene wait!" I reached the elevator entered, Norman hurrying in behind me. "Marlene, this is dangerous."

"I'm not afraid of danger. You don't have to come if you don't want to." 8:10 p.m.

"No way am I sending you in there alone!" We kept walking down the long hallway and turned the corner. We entered my apartment, finding it empty. I shut the door and locked it. 8:13 p.m. "See, Marly, there's nothing here."

"No, something is happening." 8:15p.m. Ding!

"What was that?"

"The elevator." We stood in silence for half a minute. Thump. Thump. "Footsteps coming this way." I whispered. 8:16 p.m. "We have to hide."

"What-

I grabbed Norman and shoved him into my bedroom. "Get under the bed." He obeyed. I followed just as 8:17 p.m. came and the door was broken in. We both flinched violently and struggled to breathe quietly.

"Clear!" A man's voice and the sound of footsteps. Then, things being turned over and broken. "Search all the rooms!"

"What about this one? Is this hers?" They were talking about my room.

"Yes, search it. She's in the same test group as Dana Scully." I flinched violently. What did he mean, same test group? They began to turn over furniture and such and then finally, finally left. Norman and I waited several minutes until we deemed it safe to come out.

"What was that?" He breathed, face white. "Who were those people?"

"I don't know." I choked, face whiter than his. "I think- I think they were with the government."

"The government wouldn't do that." Yet he sounded unsure. "Who's Dana Scully?" I shook my head. All of a sudden Norman grabbed onto my shoulders. "Tell me. Marlene, I need to know. I'm involved now."

"S-she's an FBI agent who was abducted. She recently turned up in the hospital."

"Abducted? By who?"

"You mean by what." He looked confused. "Sit Norman." He sat. "You believe in aliens-

"Wait! You think she was abducted…..by aliens?" I looked down at how stupid that sounded. "Marlene, that's ridiculous. How could you know that?"

"Because I've been abducted by them to." Silence.

"W-w-h-at?" Slowly I lifted up my shirt revealing the tracker scar above my belly button. "Oh my God." He whispered.

"You believe me."

"I suppose so. But Marlene, how- how long as this been happening? What did the mean by test group, what's the test? Oh my, this is not happening."

"For eight years, no clue, and yes it's happening." A pregnant pause.

"What now? What can I do about this?"

"Nothing. It's beyond your control, Norman. We just have to act like nothing happened."

"Nothing happened? You're in danger, Marly! I have to protect you!"

"No you don't! I'm not letting you get pulled into this!" He surprised me by cutting me off with a hug.

"Marly," He whispered into my hair, "You stood up for me, now I'm going to stand up for you." The hug lasted a precious few moments until we pulled away.

"You sure?"

"Yes. I'm in this now."

"We have, we have to pretend like nothing happened for now though. Mulder can't know what we heard."

"Okay."

Mulder never came for me that night and on Norman's insistence I stayed the night at his place. It seemed that his parents were never home, always working. He slept on the couch while I took his bed, again at his insistence. In the morning around nine Mulder came. Walking into his apartment he didn't seem too surprised by the mess which furthered my belief that he knew what had happened last night.

"You okay, Mulder? You look tired."

"Just go to your room, Marly."

"You sure-

"Just go." His voice sounded so heartbroken, dull, and monotone with wordless suffering. I did go to my room and spent the day staring at the walls, wondering why my life had to be so complicated. Around two o' clock the phone rang and Mulder hurried to my room, smiling for the first time in ages.

"What is it?"

"She's awake."

We entered Dana's hospital room.

"Hello Fox." Said Dana's mother. "And Marlene."

"Not Fox, Mulder." Dana turned to smile at her partner then at me. "Y-You were with Duane Barry." I nodded.

"He kidnapped me as well." Mulder put a hand on my shoulder.

"Scully, meet my foster child." Her eyes widened.

"Y-you were there, with Nurse Owens." Mulder squeezed my shoulder.

"What?" I only smiled at Melissa. Mulder valiantly continued on despite his confusion. "How you feeling?"

She furrowed a brow. "Mulder, I don't remember anything. After Duane Barry I-

The smile on his face stopped her. "It doesn't matter. I got you a present." I smiled thinking of what we had picked up on the way. "Super Stars of the Super Bowls."

"I knew there was a reason to live."

"Well I just wanted to come around, say hi." Said Mulder. He turned to leave but was stopped by Scully saying,

"Mulder? I had the strength of your beliefs." He smiled tenderly at her.

"I was holding this for you." Out of his pocket he pulled out her gold cross, giving it to her. We left and once in the hallway Mulder turned to talk to me.

"I don't know what she was talking about- I began to lie but he stopped me.

"I don't want to talk about that. I want….I wanted to apologize. For not being a good guardian these last few days. Really, I'm sorry Marlene." I smiled and gave him a hug.

"You're forgiven, Mulder."


	5. Chapter 5- Firewalker

Two weeks passed without event. Mulder became the perfect guardian with Scully back in his life and she and I became good friends, having many a talk on science over coffee. Norman and I continued to become closer and closer until we knew almost everything about each other. For example, his favorite color was grey (the only neutral color still technically color), he didn't eat his pancakes with syrup, and his favorite sport was pro swimming. As for me, my favorite color changed every day just about lately going from fushia to purple to lime green. I was allergic to pineapple and my favorite sport was basketball. On that day Norman and I were working on schoolwork, Language Arts to be exact. Meanwhile, I was telling him about my experiences I had had so far with Mulder. Norman was amazed, hanging on to every word like a rope. Around ten o' clock a.m. both Mulder and Scully came in.

"Back from work so early?"

"We have an X File." Mulder replied, beginning to pack his things.

"So we're leaving?"

Scully raised an eyebrow. "_We're_, as in Mulder and I, yes."

I stood. "And what about Norman and I?"

She hesitated, turning to Mulder. "Norman is in your care?"

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I agreed to let him stay here while his parents went on a luxury cruise for a week."

She put a hand on her hip. "And just what are we going to do with the children, Mulder?"

"Uh…."

"We'll just have to come. Ms. Higgins is in a retirement home and you can't leave me with Norman's parents so you have no choice." I smiled smugly.

"Wait- Norman began. "Go on an FBI mission?" I grinned.

"Yup!"

"Mulder, this is insane!" Scully exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "They're children!"

"Hey! We're fourteen." I said.

Mulder sighed heavily. "We'll just leave them at the base, Scully. No harm can come to them." Oh how wrong he was. Yet, in the end, Scully reluctantly agreed, much to Norman and I's excitement. We quickly packed our things and went out, unsure of what exactly lay ahead, but sure that it would be awesome.

"This is so beautiful!"

"What?"

"This is so beautiful!" We were in a helicopter heading up to a high mountain to search for a team of volcanic scientists. Below us was lush, green forest that took my breath away. I sat beside Norman and some scientist dude named Peirce while Mulder and Scully sat opposite us. Finally, the helicopter landed amidst some concrete buildings and satellites. We all climbed out, the noise of the helicopter near deafening. I blushed a bit when Norman insisted upon helping me out as Mulder did Scully. He was acting so weird around me lately. As soon as we were a few steps away the helicopter took off once more, ascending into the sky and taking civilization with it. We walked forward, guided by Peirce who led us to a large satellite.

"This was Firewalker's satellite relay." Firewalker, the name of the project up on this mountain, a research team studying the depths of volcanoes due to a robotic device called, you guessed it, firewalker. "We installed instruments all around this area, seismographs, tilt-o-meters…."

"We'll look around after we check inside." Said Mulder, gesturing to one of the concrete buildings.

"These instruments are worth millions of project dollars and I'm accountable for every one of them." He objected, looking vexed.

"Can't we find the rest of the decent team first." Scully said, puzzled with his insistence to check worthless machinery when lives were on the line.

"I just want to do a quick damage survey, I'll catch up with you in a few minutes." He started to leave only to be stopped by Norman.

"May I come with you? This technology sounds fascinating, I'd love to take a closer look."

He looked to Mulder and Scully who nodded their agreement. "Sure kid."

"I'll come to." I said, standing beside Norman. "Sounds like some cool stuff." We walked after the Peirce while Mulder and Scully entered the creepy warehouse. First we checked all the satellite uplinks, which all seemed to be intact. Then, some tilt-o-meters farther back into the forest, scattered among rocks and trees.

"Fascinating." Norman murmured. Honestly, I was wishing I had stayed with Mulder and Scully, this bored me. I would soon wish I had stayed with them more than ever.

"We'll have to go deeper into the woods to check the seismographs." Peirce said. So we hiked onward into the foggy depths of the trees. I had this eerie feeling someone was watching us and touched the crystal around my neck for reassurance. It gave none.

"Guys," I said. "I have this feeling…..we should go back." They both turned to me, surprised.

"What's wrong Marly?" Norman asked.

"I feel….I feel like something's out here, watching us." Peirce's brow furrowed.

"Hello? Anyone out there?" He called. I face palmed. Obviously there was no response. He turned to me. "See? Nothing's out here."

Norman bit his lip, "Maybe she's right. We should head back."

He sighed. "Just let me check this seismograph first, okay kids?" Norman and I shared uneasy looks but let him go on us following behind.

Finally we reached the seismograph. Peirce kneeled down, brushing off some dirt and inspecting it. I heard a branch crack.

"Norman?" I said.

"Yeah Marly?"

"We have to leave, now." Our backs were turned from Peirce, examining the woods.

"Why?" Crash! We whirled around to see him being attacked by a man, he was being suffocated by a thick cord.

"PEIRCE!" I screamed, running forward. Yet, just then the man twisted the cord, breaking Peirce's neck, killing him. I gasped, frozen, staring at the man's glassy eyes.

"Marly! Run!" Norman yelled, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me away.

"FREEZE!" Yelled the man. I looked up to see him pointing a red flare gun straight at my chest. We froze. "Move and she dies. Who are you?"

"W-We mean no harm." Norman stuttered frightfully, eyes never leaving the gun.

"I said who are you?"

"We just arrived," I said. "My name is Marlene and that's Norman. We were helping Peirce examine the technology." He nodded, seeming to believe us. He was a tall man, wearing dirtied pants and a ripped blue T- shirt. He had a bandage around his head. However, the most unsettling thing about was the third degree burns covering the right side of his body.

"Put your hands on your head, interlocking your fingers." We uneasily followed his orders.

"W-what are you going to do to us?" Norman asked.

"Protect you." He said simply. "Walk in front of me." I went to follow his orders yet Norman stayed still.

"Come on Norman." I said. Face white he nodded and followed.

"Walk straight, I'll direct you." The man said, walking behind us. "This gun is still loaded and cocked, so don't get any ideas."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

We arrived at a large cave with steam pouring out. I turned to the gun man.

"You want us to go in there?"

"Yes. Go." Uneasy we went into the darkness. I could still see due to the small lava craters yet not nearly as well as I would have liked. We kept walking forward, arms sore from staying above our heads so long, nose burning from the smell of silicon found in volcanoes. At long last we reached his apart camp site. It consisted of a large robotic device that I assumed was firewalker, a first aid kit, and some duffel bags.

"Sit." Said the man, gesturing to a wall. We went and sat, gratefully putting our hands in our laps. At long last he lowered the gun.

"Who are you?" I asked. He went and sat in front of us, a safe five feet away.

"Name's Trepcoss."

"What happened to you?" Norman asked.

"Everything." Norman and I exchanged confused looks.

"Earlier," I began. "You said you were protecting us. What are you protecting us from?"

"It. The virus." I stiffened.

"Virus?"

"Silicon based pathogen-

"Wait!" Norman interrupted. "There's no such thing as silicon based life. All known life forms are carbon based."

Trepcoss laughed without humor. "All known life forms eh?" He lowered his voice to a daunting whisper. "What about the unknown?"

Norman was having none of it. "It's impossible."

Now Trepcoss looked angry. "Why don't you shut up, huh? I've seen it, seen it with my own eyes!"

Before Norman could make things worse I spoke, "You said there was a virus."

"Yeah. Peirce was infected." We both looked at each other.

"What?" We said simultaneously.

"The whole team was."

"How does it spread?" Norman asked.

Now the man looked sad. "Basically, the pathogen needs to find a host the second it's released, if it doesn't it dies."

"So it's communicable for a second?" I said, sounding relieved. He nodded. "So Norman and I probably aren't infected."

"You're not. I sure, but you could have been if I didn't kill him."

"I don't understand."

"The virus, it grows inside you until it bursts out through ya' throat. Only in that second afterwards is it catchable." Norman and I exchanged worried looks.

"So, say someone else was at the base with the original team who didn't know all this. They would likely get infected?"

"Almost certainly." I jumped up, Norman right behind me.

"We have to go back!" The man also stood, squaring us.

"No."

"There are people in danger!"

"I don't care, it's too risky."

"My dad's back there!" I yelled. Then I froze. Did I just call Mulder my dad?

"So is the woman I love." I looked sharply at Trepcoss at this.

"What?" Norman said. I walked forward, standing chest to chest, or head to chest as we was much taller, and glaring at him.

"Let. Me. Go."

"No."

Norman grabbed my arm, unsuccessfully trying to pull me back. "Marly, Marlene, don't do this." I wrenched my arm out of his grasp.

"I'm leaving, one way or another." My voice cut like steel. I attempted to shove past him but now Trepcoss grabbed my arm.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Then let me leave! Let me save them!" I tried to wrench free but his grip was too tight, his nails biting into my arm even through my jacket. He grabbed me roughly and pulled me to his chest while I attempted to kick him and bite him, but to no avail.

"Let her go!" Norman yelled. He began to charge forward but I felt something cold and sharp press against my throat. Norman froze.

"I'm damn tired of this nonsense from you two. I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." Knife still tight against my throat he dragged me over to the Firewalker machine and threw me to the ground. "Sit and stay. You to boy." Norman came and sat beside me, both of us leaning against the ton of machinery. "Put your arms above your head." With some rope he tied our arms above us to the metal, much too tightly to wiggle free from. "I'm going out. Be good." He sneered. Then he left.

"God Norman, I'm sorry. Now there's no chance of escape." I said, voice thick.

"Hey Marles, I understand."

"Do you think he really thinks he's protecting us?"

"I don't know." Pause. "Do you think he's gonna kill us?"

I looked sharply at him. "No. No Norman. No." You'd think by the way this conversation was going he would be the one to cry. But I did. One small tear. I tried to hide it but of course he saw.

"Hey, Marly, it's going to be okay."

"No. No it's not. Mulder and Scully, they could be dying and we're stuck here."

"They'll be alright."

"You don't know that." A pause. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this Norman."

"It's not your fault my parents went to the Bahamas." I laughed without humor.

"Wonder how they're doing?"

"Probably better than us."

"Probably. So, Norman, can I ask you something seeing as we have nothing else to do but talk."

"Sure."

"How long were you bullied before high school?"

He gulped and said quietly. "I was bullied from second grade onwards."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"What jerks. I mean, you're so nice! Jerks."

He smiled a little. "Yup, jerks."

"What would they do to you?" He flinched. "You don't have to tell me."

"No, it's okay. They just….hit me a lot. Knocked out a tooth once. But, it was never the punches that hurt. It was the words. Because, the bruises would fade, but the labels, the labels all stayed with me, day after day, year after year. And, and after a while all I saw when I looked in the mirror were those defining words. Not Norman, never Norman."

I felt so horrible. How could anyone do that to him? "I would hug you if I could."

"Thanks. You know, you're my first real friend."

I smiled. "I guess you're my first real friend to, considering my other one kidnapped me and left me on the side of the road to die and all."

"Well considering that minor detail…." We both laughed.

"Marly?" Norman said, suddenly very serious. "Can I ask you something?"

"Okay."

"You…you say you were abducted by aliens?" I froze. "What did they…what did they do to you?"

I swallowed hard. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No," I choked out. "It's okay. It's just….it isn't what they did Norman. It's what they do, present tense."

He gasped. "You mean you're still…."

"Twice a week usually."

"My God."

"They….do tests. A lot of shots of God-knows-what. And, they open you up to examine your organs and such."

"Wait, they numb the pain though, right?"

"Wrong."

"Y-you mean, y-you f-feel it?"

"Yeah."

He looked at me with pity. "Oh Marly."

"But that isn't the worst thing they did." I whispered.

"What do you mean?"

I swallowed again. "I'm sorry, it's just I've never told anyone. Last year they….they made me pregnant and took the fetus for tests. There I said it."

Norman was stunned silent. I just looked ahead, utterly ashamed that I had, in my own alien way, been raped.

"Marly-

Footsteps. Trepcoss was back. "Did I miss something?" He asked, seeing our stricken faces.

"No." I said firmly. Norman still couldn't speak.

"Well, I brought you some water." He held up two canteens. "Can get awful dry down here."

"Really? In a volcano cave? I had no idea!" I spat. He rolled his eyes.

"Spiteful, aren't you?" He walked over and approached Norman. "Open your mouth."

"W-why?"

"To give you a drink, Einstein." Norman obeyed and was rewarded with lukewarm water that, to his sand dry mouth, probably tasted like ice cold bliss. Then he gave me a drink that was indeed wonderful.

"Not so spiteful now, huh little miss spitfire?"

"Bite me." He only sighed and walked over to the floor, lying down.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Going to sleep. It's late." He said in a 'no duh' tone.

"Oh well excuse me for not noticing!"

"Marly, calm down." Norman murmured. It wasn't long before the man fell asleep. I dreaded this, dreaded talking to Norman about….that. So I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.

"Marlene?" I kept my eyes closed. "Marly? Marly, I know you're awake, your breathing's wrong." I sighed and opened my eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. I just….I just want to say that…I'm here for you. And what they did, it wasn't right." I nodded.

"Thanks Norman."

"Hey, what are friends for?" And with that we fell asleep.

"I'm hungry, got any food survivor man?" I was back to the fun game of annoying Trepcoss.

"Why would I give a smart ass like you food?"

"Because you're protecting us, remember?" I said sarcastically.

"Regretting that decision more and more." He muttered. Norman just watched our banter with an amused look on his face. Trepcoss went to one of the bags lying about and grabbed two granola bars.

"Could you please untie our hands so we can feed ourselves?" Norman asked.

"Have you learned your lesson?"

"Yes."

"I was talking to the smart ass." Norman looked at me pleadingly.

"Fine. Yes." He smiled and grabbed a knife cutting us free. Our arms dropped like lead. We each got a granola bar.

"Raison. Yuck." I said.

"If you'd rather I fetch you bugs I will." I sighed and ate the damn thing.

"What we're smelling, is it toxic?" A voice echoed up ahead. My heart swelled with hope. _Mulder._ Norman and I leapt up only to be stopped by the flare gun pointed at my chest. Again.

"Make a sound, I kill you." He whispered beginning to creep towards Mulder's voice.

"No, sulfur won't hurt you. You'll get used to it." Another man's voice.

"What if he kills them?" I whispered.

"How far does the cave extend?" Mulder. Trepcoss crept around a corner, gun cocked and ready. I knew I had to do something so I burst forward yelling,

"MULDER! HE'S ARMED! RUN!" Bang! "NO!" I scurried forward, tripping over rocks desperately hoping he hadn't been shot. I came around the corner to see Mulder with his hands up, gun pointed at him.

"Marlene! Norman! Are you two alright?" He asked.

"Back, get back!" Trepcoss yelled. Mulder hastily complied. "You!" He said to me. "Little miss smart mouth, come here or he gets it." I went over to him. He handed me a bottle of something. Lighter fluid, the label read. "Pour it on the body." Body? I looked down. There it was, a dead man with a large burning hole in his back. Numbly I complied.

"He's already dead." Mulder said. "How many times do you have to kill him?"

"It's not him I'm trying to kill." He handed me a firecracker. My heart turned to ice.

"Then let me do it, don't make the kids watch." Mulder pleaded.

"Light it." Trepcoss commanded me.

I turned to him. "No."

"Do it or your father dies!" Mulder gasped.

"Father?" He whispered. I lit the firecracker.

"Throw it on the body." I did. Yet, after I ran around it, straight to Mulder, throwing myself at him into a big hug.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

"Yeah." I whispered back.

"Hate to break up this lovely moment but we have to go back, walk in front of me." Grabbing my hand Mulder followed them man's instructions. Norman joined me on my other side.

"You okay?" He whispered. All I could do was nod, the burning body swirling about in my mind. We walked for a time in silence until we reached Firewalker.

"What went wrong, Trepcoss?" Mulder asked. "Firewalker carried something back to the surface." He spoke with conviction.

"Firewalker brought up an elephant." What? "The truth is an elephant described by three blind men. First man touches the tail and says it's a rope. Second man feels the rough leg and says it's a tree. Third man feels the trunk and says it's snake."

"What about you, you do you say it is?" Mulder asked.

"I say the earth holds some truths best left buried." M

"Like the spore?" Norman and I perked up. How did he know?

Trepcoss looked at him, equally surprised. "Who are you?"

"I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, I'm with the FBI."

"You're Marlene's father." This time he didn't miss a beat.

"Yes."

"You don't look like a police man. Or a father."

"I came down here to investigate Ericson's death."

"That's not why you're here. You still believe you can petition heaven and get some penetrating answer. If you found the answer, what would you do with it?" Norman and I exchanged amazed looks. Mulder stepped forward, getting closer to Trepcoss and putting himself between Trepcoss and us.

"I just want to know what happened after the first decent. What did you find?"

After a pause Trepcoss quietly spoke. "It was porous. Obsidian. Ericson thought it was some sort of rock so I told him to pulverize it for analyses."

"Ericson released the spore?"

"He discovered a new life from! In a single moment everything he knew about science turned on its head."

"What about Ericson, if he was infected-

"I was too immersed in my work to notice." Trepcoss looked sad, drowning in guilt. "I had been alone in the lab for three days when I heard their screams. They were gathered around him. By the time I realized what was happening, they were already changing. The spore grew in each of them until it became them."

I walked up to Mulder's side, Norman following.

"What do you mean?" He demanded.

"It's a parasite, lives to find a host."

"But you weren't infected?"

"No. Neither were the kids, thanks to me. And, it seems, neither are you."

"You destroyed your work, transmitting equipment, you killed Peirce…so no one could leave."

"No one CAN leave."

Mulder slowly walked up to Trepcoss, making a motion for us to stay put.

"What about O'Neil?"

"Jesse."

"The woman you love?" I interjected. The sadness in his eyes was all the answer I needed.

"Was she exposed to the spore?" Norman whispered.

"They were all exposed. All of them."

"I have a colleague. A friend. Who's with O'Neil right now. Let me go to her."

"Scully." I whispered.

"She may already be infected." A curious sense of déjà vu hit me. Mulder started to walk forward only to find a gun to his head. "I can't let you leave, any of you."

"We're leaving, Trepcoss." I turned to Norman in surprise. "I know you're trying to do the right thing. But so are we. And we're leaving. Thank you for trying to protect us, but now we have to go." He walked forward straight past the gun. "Come on, guys." We left.

Running through the forest I panted, "That…was….awesome."

"Thanks." He panted back.

"Come on kids!" Mulder yelled, several paces ahead. We picked up the pace. At long last we reached the base and ran in, forgetting about being discreet. "Scully!" Mulder yelled. "Scully!"

"I'm here, I'm okay." We all hurried to the blessed sound of her voice. We turned a corner and there she was, handcuffed to someone behind a door. Mulder hurried to her side, tenderly touching her neck.

"You good?"

"I'm okay." He quickly dug out some keys, unlocking her cuffs. Mulder explained everything to Scully who hugged the both of us. Yet, just then, Trepcoss came. We all froze. He lifted his gun….and set it down. He walked to a clear window and looked in, dropping to his knees. I followed and peaked in as well. There lie a woman with a giant thing sticking out of her throat. Jesse O'Neil. His lover.

"I told her it would change her life." Mulder pulled out a walkie talkie.

"Search and Rescue, this is Agent Mulder, do you copy?"

"This is Army Bio Hazard, how many are your party?" Came the response.

"We have four survivors, Agent Scully, myself, and two minors."

"Copy that. We should arrive in seven minutes."

"Mulder, what are you doing?" Scully whispered. "They're going to want to question him."

"It's all over Scully. He won't talk." And indeed the man staring into the glass wouldn't talk, because inside he was already dead.

For a month we were kept quarantined in a government base. It was miserable. Yet, we were finally freed to find Norman's parents had extended their trip and were none the wiser. Finally, that night Mulder and I were alone, eating fried chicken which kicked the base's foods ass.

"So?" I looked to Mulder expectantly. "You told him I was your dad?" I blushed and looked down.

"It just kind of slipped out. Sorry."

"No. I actually….kind of like it."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So….I can call you my….dad?"

He smiled. "I guess so kiddo." And I was perfectly happy with that.


	6. Chapter 6- Irresistable

Three. Missions. I had missed out on three whole missions, and really cool ones by the sound of it! So not fair! I had complained to Mulder to no end about it and he was about ready to pull his hair out. Yet, Norman and his parents were now visiting his grandmother in Kentucky so there was no one to watch me. I only hoped a mission would come before they got back. And one did, in Minneapolis. It started off as a boring day muddling through geometry, wishing for Norman's math genius. Then, Mulder entered.

"Got a case?" I said, jumping up. He groaned.

"Not this again, Marly!"

"Come on Mulder, you have to let me come! There's no one to watch me!" I sing songed.

"Listen, Marly, it's just, this case is particularly….gruesome. I don't think it's something a kid should be exposed to."

I put a hand on my hip. "You think the alien abductee is afraid of gruesome?"

"Point taken." He creased his eyebrows deep in thought. "Oh alright, you can come."

"YES!" I yelled, running to my room and throwing a bag together. Within ten minutes we were ready to go.

"Mulder, what is Marly doing here?" Scully asked, waiting for us at our gate.

"She really wanted to come." He said, opening a bag of sunflower seeds.

"Uh huh. Mulder, this isn't an affair for children."

He popped one in his mouth, cracking the shell. "I don't have anyone to watch her." She sighed shaking her head.

"So, what exactly is the case?" I asked. It was explained to me that some freak had gone and dug up a corpse, taking parts of it. "Gross. Why would anyone want parts of a dead person?" I asked.

Turns out, the Minneapolis police had no idea either. In fact, they were so disturbed by the case they got the FBI involved. We arrived at a cemetery, the rainy skies perfectly portraying the atmosphere. We walked towards the dug up body, a police man guiding the way. And God, how awful. It was woman, only her finger nails had been removed and from what I heard her hair had been cut. Her tombstone read Catherine Anne Terly.

"You think this grave was unearthed by aliens, Agent Fox?" Mulder asked the man. I looked up sharply.

"Why would aliens do that? They could just take stuff from a living person or kill an abductee." Scully and Mulder looked sharply at me, warning me to shut up. Luckily, Agent Fox (How many people were there named Fox in this world?) only laughed.

"She takes after you it seems, Mulder. But what about how the hair and nails have been cut away? Like the cattle mutilations."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, Agent Fox, but I agree with Marly here, this doesn't look like the work of aliens to me." I was actually a bit surprised. Despite the logic, Mulder was usually quick to jump on the good ole' alien bandwagon.

Agent Fox, however, was firmly planted on it. "How can you be sure?"

"I've seen this kind of thing before, when I worked in violent crimes." He kept talking but my eyes were on Scully, who looked sick. I approached her from behind.

"You okay?"

She jumped and whirled on me. "Y-yes, I'm fine Marlene."

"You sure? I mean, this is pretty gruesome."

"Yes. In fact, I should be asking you."

I snorted. "No worse than what's on television these days." Mulder finished up his conversation with Fox and began walking back to the car with us.

"You okay, Scully?" Ah, he noticed it to!

"Yes. I've read about cases of desecrating the dead before but this is the first time I've seen it."

"Nothing can prepare you for it, it's almost unimaginable. How are you holding up, Marly?" I sighed.

"Like I told Scully, see it on T.V. everyday."

"Just what do you watch on television when you're supposed to be studying?" _Oops. _

"Uh….nothing." Scully laughed a bit.

"Looks like you've got a rebel on your hands, Mulder."

"You don't the half of it. The other day she hid all the sunflower seeds in the house just to torture me."

We got in the car and Scully grew serious once more. "Why do they do it?"

"Some people collect salt and pepper shakers, Fetishes collect dead things; hair and fingernails. No one quite knows why. Though, I've never understood salt and peppers shakers myself."

I laughed a bit. "Because all you collect in your place is dust." I murmured under my breath.

"Sometimes you surprise me Mulder."

"Why is that?"

"How that didn't shock you back there."

"I prepared myself for it before we left Washington."

"And Marly to?" He nodded.

"I'd say Stephen King did a better job." I muttered.

"What?" Mulder asked.

"Nothing."

"So you knew this wasn't U.F.O. related from the start?" Scully asked. "Mulder it took us three hours to get here and our plane doesn't leave until tomorrow night." Mulder pulled out some football tickets.

"You little sneak!" I exclaimed. "This was all just to see a sports game!"

"Hey it's the Vikings and the Redskins. Show some respect. I raised you better than that." He grinned cheekily.

As it turns out, Scully and I didn't have to sit through a football game because we got a call from Agent Fox. More bodies had been found desecrated. While Fox and Mulder spoke Scully and I looked into a file of photos- gruesome ones. She looked a bit sick again. Abruptly she shut the file and left the room. Confused, I picked up the file and sorted through, trying to figure out what upset her so much. I saw nothing particularly awful. I heard Mulder talking about an escalating Fetishist and how he may soon resort to homicide. Jeez. This guy was crazy. Mulder and I walked outside to see Scully sitting, staring ahead.

"We got some work to do here, I'm going to cancel our flight out." Mulder said quietly. She didn't reply. "Scully?" He prompted.

"I'll be right there." Mulder went back in but I stayed, sitting beside her.

"A frog went to visit a fortune teller. "What do you see in my future?" asked the frog. "Very soon," replied the fortune teller. "you will meet a pretty young girl who will want to know everything about you."  
"That's great!" said the frog, hopping up and down excitedly. "But when will I meet her?" "Next week in science class." said the fortune teller."

She looked at me strangely and smiled a bit. "Your jokes are even worse than Mulder's."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine."

"No, this is upsetting you. It…..it makes you think of what was done to you." She gasped, looking at me sharply. Then, she stood and entered the office. I sat still, surprised that I had known that. How had I known that?

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. I rolled the rubber band ball to the wall and watched it roll back. We were in a police station; Scully typing up a report and Mulder slurping on Chinese noodles. I found it amusing that for someone whose job involved physical health, he had an incredible malnutrition induced diet, especially when on cases. Around midnight the phone call came.

A young woman in her early twenties was murdered, likely a prostitute. Another prostitute came forward and seeing the girl's face she gasped saying, "Oh god, god who did this to her?" I walked up closer, kneeling beside the body and looking at the girl's pretty face. Mulder and Fox followed my lead but Scully stayed back saying that she needed a minute.

"She's so pretty." I murmured. Mulder nodded. "I wonder what got her to become a prostitute?" He shrugged. I looked back to the girl's face. One thing was for certain: she didn't deserve this. No one did.

Mulder and I sat in the police office, awaiting Scully.

"Do you know why Scully seems upset?" He asked out of the blue. I shrugged, unsure of whether or not to share my suspicions. "You do, don't you?"

"Suspecting and knowing are very different."

"Well then what do you suspect?" I inhaled loudly.

"I suspect that this makes her wonder what those sick freaks who abducted her did to her." He nodded, looking stricken.

"Do you think they did the same kinds of tests they did to you?" My mind flashed back to the night when those men came, saying Scully and I were in the same test group.

"Yes." The door opened and Scully entered, sitting down to type her report without a word.

Mulder sent Scully and I back to a hotel to sleep. She took the bed on my insistence while I made a makeshift one on the floor. Yet, late, the phone call came. They believed they had arrested the perp.

We arrived at the police station and Mulder and Scully went to speak to the possible man. Yet, I stayed outside. There was a strange feeling in my gut. Someone was watching me. I turned to see a man in another cell, very ordinary looking on the outside, white skin, brown hair. Yet, if the eyes are the windows to the soul he may have been the most troubled man I had ever seen. We met eyes and I felt a shiver run down my spine. His eyes seemed to be glued to my hair- my recently re-dyed pink hair. Mulder and Scully left the other man's cell and I noticed the man's gaze shift to her hair. Something wasn't right. The vibes I got from this guy made me feel sick. I hurried after Mulder and Scully, eager to be away from him. Yet, I felt his presence even from around the corner. Scully was speaking to Mulder about returning to Washington to run some prints.

"Take Marly with you."

"What no!" I objected. Mulder raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Marlene. It's time you returned to your studies anyways."

I was walking around the FBI building, bored, before running into a bald man with glasses.

"Oh, um, hello. Who are you?"

"I'm Marlene." His eyes widened with recognition.

"You were with Mulder, pursuing Duane Barry. Wait…he didn't. You're his new foster child?" I nodded.

"May I ask why you're here?"

"Well, Scully wanted to come back from the case to run fingerprints and there was no one to watch me-

"Woah, woah, woah! Mulder took you with him on a mission?" The man asked through gritted teeth. _Oops._

"Uh…..no." Note to self: have Mulder teach me to lie better.

"That son of a….." The man muttered under his breath.

"May I ask who you are?" I said, a bit ruffled.

"I'm Walter Skinner, his boss."

"Skynyrd? Like Leonard Skynyrd?"

His face reddened. "No."

"Marlene!" It was Scully, thank God, I figured I made Mulder's boss a bit upset.

"Oh got to go! Bye!"

"Wait, young lady-

I hurried away through several hallways until I ran into Scully.

"Marlene, why are you hurrying so?"

"Oh no reason, let's just go, go now!" I grabbed her arm and hurried her outside to her car where we hastily got in and drove away.

"What on earth was that about?"

"Nothing. Did you get a print?"

"Yes, yes we did. We're heading back to Minneapolis."

"Are you sure you can handle it, Scully?"

She grit her teeth. "I'm sure."

We walked out of the airport and to our rental car. Just as we got in I felt a frightening feeling travel up my spine. Scully began to drive away, yet the feeling lasted.

"Are you alright, Marlene? Marlene, you, you're shaking."

"I-I'm fine." The rode darkened and the feeling grew worse and worse until I could hardly breath.

"S-Scully, c-could y-you p-pull over?" Bang! A car hit us from behind. Bang! It hit us again. BANG! The world faded.

The next moments were fuzzy, very fuzzy. A man came and opened the car door. Even through the haze I recognized the man from the prison. He bound our hands and feet with me murmuring, "No." Scully was out cold. I felt something warm drip from my forehead. "No, no!" I tried to scream, but my voice sounded far away, across an echoing tunnel. The man put something in my mouth- a gag. Then, he lifted me up, carrying me into his car and putting me in the back seat. A few moments later Scully was set beside me. We drove for a while and gradually the fuzziness faded, replaced by icy cold awareness. We parked. Looking out the window I saw a house. "Mmppphhh! Mmpphhh!" I cried, trying to nudge Scully awake.

"Quiet, darling." The man said, looking at me with those soulless eyes. I tried to say 'fuck off' but it came out muffled. He exited the vehicle and opened our car door, grabbing me over his shoulder. He carried me into the place and set me down in a dark closet, far too gently. "Now let me go grab your friend." He left me in the utter darkness. Several moments later he set Scully beside me and let again. I heard groaning and a sharp gasp. Scully had awoken. I tried to say her name and she seemed to understand, saying mine, both of our voices greatly muffled. The door opened all of a sudden, revealing Mr. Creeper. I glared at him. Scully lifted her head as well, eyes widening with fear. He slid the closet door shut. _Well, that was a short visit._

The door opened again about fifteen minutes later. This time he had a knife. Oh shit. He kneeled down, looking at the two of us in awe. I flipped him off. He scowled at me and turned to Scully, who desperately inched her head away. He put her small bound hands between his only to have her wrench them away yelling, "Get the hell away from us!" He sighed and picked up the knife.

"Fuck." I murmured. This was going to hurt. A lot. Only, he didn't slice up her or me, he cut the bindings on Scully's feet. He tenderly touched her hair.

"Don't be afraid." He murmured gently. Then he turned me, all gentleness gone. "I'll be back for you later." This time I used both hands to flip him off. He hauled Scully up and forced her out of the room, slamming the closet door shut once more and leaving me in darkness. _Scully, Scully needs help! What do I do?_ Yet, as much as I tried to worm to the door, even when I got there, I could not open it. Slam! _What's happening? Is Scully dead?_

"There's no way out, Girly girl." Yes! Scully had gotten away! The closet door opened, revealing Scully. She knelt down and took the knife Mr. Creeper had conveniently forgotten on the floor, and cut the bindings on my hands and feet. I in turn quickly cut her hands free. We both remove the gags.

"We have to move." Scully whispered. I nodded and we left.

"I know this house Girly girl. There's nowhere to hide." Shit, he was getting closer. We crept outside the closet and through the hall into another bedroom. I tapped Scully's shoulder and pointed to a can of spray paint. She nodded. I picked it up. She directed me to a closet and we hid there.

"Spray it in his eyes." She whispered, so low I had to strain to hear. I nodded can at the ready. Tap. Tap. Footsteps approaching. I could have sworn he heard my heart hammering in my chest. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Creak. The door opened.

"Take this you son of a bitch!" I screamed, spraining the green pain right into his pupils. He fell to the floor and Scully and I leapt away, heading for the stairs. Only, he was back on his feet far to quickly and jumped on Scully, sending the two rolling down the stairs.

"Scully!" I screamed. I noticed a black gun go flying. I began to pound down the stairs while Scully attempted to reach it. She got it but the mad man knocked it out of her hand, leaning over her, me running down the stairs…the door burst open. "Federal Agent! Hands in the air! Hands in the air!" I had never been more happy to see Mulder in my entire life. Fetish guy rolled off of Scully, hands up while Agents pulled her and me a safe distance away. Scully fell to her knees, gasping wildly. Mulder was at our side in a second yelling for paramedics.

"How did you find us?" Scully breathed, still shaking.

"His mother owned the house. Patrol man saw his car out back." Mulder said. "Are you two alright?" I nodded but Scully only shook. They handcuffed the man and shoved him out the door.

"Have fun in prison!" I yelled.

"You bitch!" He screamed back, only to have an officer roughly whack him. I grinned. Mulder gave his signature 'really' look. Yet, he then turned to Scully with a tender look in his eye. He gently lifted her head so her blue eyes met his. And then, she began to cry, burying herself in his chest, his arms wrapping around her. Hmm….

Scully recovered and insisted she was absolutely fine. Mulder got an angry call from Skinner or Skin-Man as he called him, upon his return to Washington. As for me, I had a lot of time to think about everything. Yet, it wasn't the man or his motivations on my mind…..it was Mulder and Scully. Gosh, would they make a cute couple or what? I discussed this notion with Norman, who agreed. I already knew Mulder had feelings for her, girls can tell these things. Now I just had to get them together.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, don't worry, I'm not giving up on this story. I just wanted to let you know that I want to start something new. I would like to now only write Marlene into episodes recommended from you guys. I would like to do them in order so I am now doing epsiodes after the one in my last chapter through season three. Thanks for reading and tell me which episodes you want me to use! Bye :)


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